Shared Rural Network 4G masts have reached more than 150 rural sites, allowing walkers to check the weather, contact help and discover that the group chat has followed them into the hills.
The government says the upgrades are live across hard to reach parts of the UK, extending coverage across more than 5,684 square kilometres. The work includes the Lake District, Eryri and Exmoor. The Shared Rural Network has also reached its target of 95 per cent of the UK landmass a year ahead of schedule, giving the countryside one more reason to ask everyone to stop looking at their phones.
A fictional unbranded phone welcomed the announcement beside a footpath, laughing so hard it nearly dropped its battery pack. It had previously understood rural walking as a rare opportunity to become useless.
Shared Rural Network 4G masts bring reception to the retreat
The new coverage is intended to help people check routes, read weather warnings, contact family and call emergency services. It also supports rural businesses, public services and communities that have spent years explaining that the signal is not bad exactly. It is simply taking a more philosophical approach to communication.
Forty two upgraded sites are active in national parks. The total includes 12 in Eryri, seven in the Lake District and six in the Yorkshire Dales. The hills have therefore been issued with the technological equivalent of a front door, although visitors are still expected to knock politely before uploading a photograph of a sheep.
The programme is a partnership between government and mobile network operators. Further work includes up to 40 government funded mast improvements and up to 44 publicly funded masts in Scotland. The countryside is slowly being connected to the future, having first checked whether the future had a decent data allowance.
The signal is strong, the escape is weaker
Shared Rural Network 4G masts should make rural areas safer and easier to use. They may also make it harder for anyone to claim they were unreachable while ignoring an email headed “quick question”. An institution has finally improved the signal and destroyed the alibi in the same afternoon.
The unbranded phone has now achieved its dream of accompanying people into the wilderness without allowing them to escape anything. It is laughing beside the mast, fully charged and waiting for the first emergency to be resolved by a password reset. The hills have reception at last, so even nature can now be placed on hold.
Source: GOV.UK.
